Sports Dollars
Johnny Manziel's power has limits: Texas still crushes Texas A&M in college merchandise sales
The University of Texas may have struggled on the football field last season (by its lofty standards), but that hasn’t deterred fans from buying that burnt orange merchandise. New rankings from the Collegiate Licensing Company reveal UT's reeled in the most royalties from merchandise sales for the eighth year in a row.
The CLC didn’t release exact dollar amounts for each college or university, but with an estimated value of $4.62 billion in the college retail marketplace, it’s safe to assume the Longhorns are pulling in a nice, big chunk of change. The CLC looked at royalties from June 2012 to June 2013.
Texas A&M University comes in at the rather appropriate 12th spot, a leap from its No. 19 ranking last year.
Although still trailing 11 spots behind UT, Texas A&M University is starting to make bank in the SEC. Texas A&M University comes in at the rather appropriate 12th spot, a leap from its No. 19 ranking last year.
CLC credits "athletic success" — like the Aggies' major upset of No. 1 Alabama — and "the excitement of moving to a new conference" for the Aggies' rise in the ranks. But we suspect that trouble-loving quarterback Johnny Manziel has a role in it.
The Heisman Trophy winner continues to make headlines for his party boy ways and allegedly selling autographs — a violation of NCAA bylaws. In fact, the NCAA recently shut down its online jersey sales after reports surfaced that student-athletes’ names were tied to memorabilia in the search function of the organization’s apparel site. One of those names was Johnny Manziel, of course.
Royalties generated from the sale of officially licensed collegiate products help support various student and campus endeavors. It should be noted, however, that even though UT can beat heavyweights like Alabama, Notre Dame and Michigan in the merchandise game, the CLC doesn’t count the likes of Ohio State or USC as clients.